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Did you miss Gonzales’ speech? Bears to take on NYU, Brandeis

If you didn’t make it over to the 560 Building for the for-mer U.S. Attorney General’s speech, you can read a full transcipt of his prepared statement online at www.studlife.com

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will be battling NYU and Brandeis this weekend on their quest for UAA dominance. Sports, Page 3

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878VOLUME 129, NO. 58 WWW.STUDLIFE.COMFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2008

STAFF EDITORIAL | FINANCIAL AID INCREASE IS A GOOD START | SEE FORUM, PAGE 4

STUDENT LIFE

Washington University Din-ing Services met with students this week to determine food options for the Danforth Uni-versity Center, which will open this coming August.

The food court of the Dan-forth University Center (DUC) will have the same layout as the current Mallinckrodt Stu-dent Center cafeteria, but will include some changes to the menu meant to promote a more balanced diet.

There will be four sta-tions in the new food court: an American style grill with burgers and chicken; an Asian concept with several types of cuisine and sushi; an Italian station with pizza, pasta and Mediterranean salads; and a Latino station similar to the one in Mallinckrodt.

The space now used for the Mallinckrodt Food Court will be set aside for another func-tion when the DUC opens, though it is uncertain what that will be. In addition, Hill-top Bakery will probably be converted into a salad bar that also sells wraps.

Student Union (SU) Senator Colin Towery says that SU de-termined from a survey that the most common request among students was for a greater diversity of eating op-tions.

“Students wanted a more complete meal with a main dish and a vegetable and starch on the side,” he said. “I’m not sure what the fi nal menu will look like exactly.”

In addition to the food court, the DUC will include a café similar to Hilltop Bakery and a sit-down bistro with a wait staff and alcoholic bever-ages, including wine and beer. Towery said that he is not con-

cerned about the University’s offering alcohol to students on campus, because the bistro is meant for an older population.

“[Dining Services] fi rst started talking about putting a restaurant to be used more by faculty and staff,” he said. “It’s not the sort of place that col-lege students prefer. The deci-sion for wine and beer was a no-brainer.”

SU President Neil Patel added that even if students do partake in consuming alcohol, he is not worried because they will be in a formal setting con-ducive to responsible behav-ior.

“Students in the real world are going to be approached with many opportunities to drink,” said Patel. “To have it integrated on campus in a safe way is good for students. So-cial events based around safe drinking are good for the cam-pus community.”

Patel also said that he was pleased to see Dining Services respond to the concerns of the students, voiced in an SU-sponsored poll sent out earlier this year.

He added that the students’ desire for balanced eating op-tions showed that the campus is placing an emphasis on a healthy lifestyle.

“Students want to be in-volved in the process,” he said. “It complements the push for better fi tness facilities.”

Paul Schimmele, assistant to the director of operations for Dining Services, said that the students who spoke with Bon Appétit chefs at this week’s meeting agreed with the University’s vision for the food court.

“I was pleased with what I heard the chefs from Bon Ap-pétit talking about and with what the students agreed on,”

said Schimmele. “We got the chefs to sit with the students and talk. It was great how in sync they seemed to be.”

Another determining factor in the layout of the new food court is the space available for each station. This aspect of the planning came into play when the University found that the DUC would not have enough space for a fast-food franchise.

“[A franchise] is precluded by the design of the build-ing,” said Towery. “We’re go-ing to try to get a franchise in the new Wohl Center. We have been working with architects for some time. This is a very long process.”

Patel is disappointed not to see a franchise in the DUC, saying that it was a high prior-ity for students in the survey.

“Students want to see a franchise in the DUC,” he said. “If it’s the same options trans-ferred over [from Mallinck-rodt], students are going to be frustrated.”

Patel said that a franchise is valuable because it diversifi es the students’ menu.

“When it comes to future renovations and future con-struction, we should be bring-ing in more outside options,” he said. “I don’t think that Wash. U. specializes in good food options.”

But Schimmele said that Dining Services will be mak-ing an effort to improve food quality with a focus on student feedback, especially regarding the Asian concept in Mallinck-rodt.

“Bon Appétit has really lis-tened to the comments,” said Schimmile. “If you look at the products that were fi rst of-fered and what there is today, there are a lot of things that have been substituted.”

Danforth eateries will be similar to Mallinckrodt’sBY BEN SALESNEWS EDITOR

Forget public policy and promises for a better tomor-row. It may be more important for Republican candidates to seem competent and trustwor-thy, and for Democrats to seem intelligent and likeable.

This is according to a new study by Michael Lewis of the Olin Business School, an assis-tant professor of marketing.

Lewis argues that political candidates are increasingly running their campaigns from a marketing standpoint, refer-ring to the current presiden-tial race in which Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama of Illinois rep-resents hope while Democratic presidential candidate Senate Hillary Clinton of New York represents experience.

“We’re seeing branding more and more, and we think a marketing-oriented approach might add a little bit of insight into how elections are deter-

mined,” said Lewis, who co-authored the study with JoAn-drea Hoegg of the University of British Columbia. “The can-didates listen to the people’s opinions and even run focus groups. It’s like marketing a brand of soap, and they want to see ideas from the perspec-tive of the voters.”

Lewis said people who fol-low campaigns closely will no-tice that the candidates’ mes-sages change over time.

“Behind the scenes, a lot of what they say is driven by mar-keting research,” he said.

Lewis and Hoegg based their research on 112 congressional elections in 2000 and 2002. They asked the participants to judge photos of candidates on seven personality traits and to identify the candidates as Republicans or Democrats. Psychologists refer to this as “thin-slicing,” making split-second judgments about a per-son.

The authors found that competence and trustworthi-

ness were associated more with Republicans, while intel-ligence and likeability more with Democrats.

They also found that can-didates received more votes in the actual elections when they matched these associations.

“That’s the way voters look at it,” said Lewis. “They have preconceived notions of what a Republican should be and what a Democrat should be and then they see how well the candidates fi t those stereo-types.”

According to Lewis, elec-tions do not feature liberal Republicans or conservative Democrats anymore, because they do not fi t the stereotypes.

“It’s a tricky result,” he said. “It’s puzzling at fi rst but when you step back and think about it, it makes sense.”

Lewis and Hoegg looked at other aspects of political cam-paigns and found that spend-ing has little benefi t for incum-

Marketing is recipe for political success, say professors in new studyBY JOSH HANTZCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

In honor of Presidents’ Day, the Lock & Chain society or-ganized a series of events this week celebrating the University’s namesake, George Washington.

All proceeds from the events, which ranged from horse and buggy rides around campus to a red, white and blue benefi t par-ty, will be donated to Architec-ture Professor Bob Hansman’s service project, City Faces.

“We’re trying to get the stu-dent body to show a little bit of school spirit and have everyone come together to celebrate our namesake,” said sophomore Lock & Chain member Scott Friedman.

City Faces is a community arts program that offers draw-ing classes to inner-city St. Louis children.

In its 104th year, Lock & Chain focuses on community

service and is the University’s oldest sophomore honorary so-ciety. Friedman said that the society chose Hansman to be its keynote speaker this week be-cause he shares a similar goal of involving University students in service.

“We were trying to fi nd an en-gaging speaker who was some-how related to Wash. U. He is a professor here and has a won-derful service project that a lot of Wash. U. students are involved in,” said Friedman.

In addition to Hansman speaking on Wednesday, the celebration included horse and buggy rides, navigated by Fried-man dressed as Washington, throughout campus.

“It was a nice fun way to cel-ebrate Washington week and to get students’ heads turning and get them involved in the week,” said Friedman. “One student mentioned that it was really nice to have it to break up the monot-

ony of the day.”Other events in the week in-

cluded photo opportunities with George Washington, cherry pie and birthday cake outside of Mallinckrodt.

“We had signs for our later events there, it was really to try to get everyone excited about George Washington’s birthday,” said Lock & Chain member Amy Crumpler, a sophomore.

Hansman said he hopes that students were able to draw their own connections between his speech about City Faces and the ideals of George Washington.

“The connections are for other people to make. I fi nd that each person sees it through his own fi lter,” said Hansman. “Ev-ery time you bring up founding fathers and principles, the next question is: are you following them.”

Hansman also says he hopes

Washington Week returns, benefi ting new charity

BY PERRY STEINNEWS EDITOR

The Washington University Mock Trial team continued their strong season by plac-ing fi fth in the Marilyn But-ler Mock Trial Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, and win-ning a bid to nationals this April.

“We’ve done well for many years. Our program is one of the [best] in the country. We’ve always had at least one team in the top National Tour-nament,” said Warren Davis, the faculty manager for the team. “Several people have done this for four years. It’s like lettering in football for four years.”

The team has also recently garnered success from two of its award-winning members: freshman Diana Dickinson won an award for being a top witness and sophomore Mag-gy Randels won an award for being a top attorney on the re-gional level.

The time spent at Mock Tri-

al practice can range from six hours to 15 hours per week, depending on whether there are any upcoming tourna-ments.

But all the Mock Trial Team members said the large time commitment was worth it.

“I enjoy traveling to the different tournaments with all the people. I did Mock Trial in high school, but collegiate Mock Trial is really different because there’s a lot more preparation and hard work. We practice so much together that it becomes a family atmo-sphere,” said Dickinson.

Since the team spends so much time together, Davis says his favorite part of managing Mock Trial is the team bond-ing and the lifelong skills he learns as part of the team.

“It hones one’s ability to or-ganize and synthesize quick-ly. You learn to really think on your feet and react to things quickly,” said Davis.

Mock Trial President Bran-don Harper, a junior, also said that the large amount of time

devoted to Mock Trial will help prepare members for their fu-ture professional endeavors.

“We get to develop speak-ing skills, along with public presentation, critical reading, people skills,” said Harper. “All of those will be used as you get older. We also have a lot of really good, talented competitors. We enjoy being together, and we get to travel around to different states.”

Sophomore Caitlyn Clarke said she likes the reality of the competitions.

“I think that Mock Trial is close to advocacy. The objec-tions are real, the rules are real and the cases are based on actual cases,” said Clarke.

Two of the University’s Mock Trial teams will be com-peting in Columbia, Mo. this weekend.

The University Mock Trial members said they are confi -dent for the tournament this weekend and for Nationals in April.

“Wash. U.’s defi nitely the team to beat,” said Clarke.

Mock Trial wins bid to national tournamentBY ANN JOHNSONSTAFF REPORTER

A horse and buggy treks across campus Wednesday morning as a part of the Presidents’ Day Celebration orga-nized by the Lock & Chain honorary. All proceeds from the celebration will be donated to Professor Bob Hansman’s City Faces service project.

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STUDENT LIFE

Avenue Q

The hit Broadway play Avenue Q will be performed at the Fox theatre this weekend. Friday’s performance will be at 8 p.m. and Saturday’s will also be at 8 p.m. with an ad-ditional performance at 2 p.m.

Red Alert Basketball

Both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams will be battling for the No. 1 ranking in the University Athletic Association [UAA] against Brandeis. This Red Alert-spon-sored event will be giving away free pizza. Members of the Lock & Chain honorary will be presenting awards at this game in honor of George Washington Week.

Compiled by Sam Guzik

Friday, February 22

Pulse

A cappella competition

An Intercollegiate a cappella competition will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Support the University’s own Mosaic Whispers and Stereotypes as they compete against the best a cappella groups in the Midwest. The event is hosted by the Amateurs. The competition will be held at the 560 Building on the Loop. The event is free for all Wash. U. students, and buses will be leaving from the B-School to take students to the 560 Building.

She Stoops To Conquer

She Stoops To Conquer, a Performing Arts Department production, will be today at Hotchner Theatre at 2 p.m. There will also be performances running from February 22 through March 2. Tickets can be purchased at the Edi-son Theatre Box Office and cost nine dollars for Univer-sity community members.

Saturday, February 23

Sunday, February 24

Fire and Ice

The freshmen class’ Fire And Ice Ball will be held at 10 p.m. on Saturday night in the Gargoyle. Tickets are $10 at the door and the dress is semi-formal and fire or ice colors.

Despite polemics, no tension between campus political groups

For weeks before former At-torney General Alberto Gonzales came to Washington University, students organized to both sup-port and protest his presence on the University’s campus.

Before the speech began, the College Republicans prepared themselves for the large group of student protestors. Not know-ing what to expect, some Repub-licans said they were pleasantly surprised.

“The protestors seem to be behaving relatively well, and that was our biggest concern,” said College Republicans Public Relations Coordinator Brinton Callaghan, a senior, before the actual speech.

Some members of the College Republicans were upset by the fact that during the speech three members of the audience shout-ed out remarks calling Gonzales a liar and perjurer before walk-ing out.

“This refl ects terribly on the [members of] College Democrats and [Wash. U.] Peace Coalition because they assured the Stu-dent Union that they would not cause any disturbance, and now they went back on their word,” said College Republican member Helene Burks. “[Though] I don’t think its fair to make the link between these groups and those individuals.”

Sophomore Phil Katz says that the fact that there could be protestors on campus refl ected the country’s democratic ideals.

“While I personally do not agree with many of the argu-ments made by the protestors, I fully support their decision to picket,” said Katz. “By that same token, I felt that Gonzales had the right to freely express his side of the story, and I was glad to see that even the most ardent protestors did not try to prevent him from exercising those same rights that they themselves were

exercising outside.”While the Republicans seemed

torn between whether the protes-tors were a disturbance or peace-ful, most of the protesters said they received overwhelming sup-port from the University and St. Louis communities.

“On the march to the protest, we had drivers honking and wav-ing, and giving us thumbs-up and peace signs all the way up Big Bend and Delmar,” said Col-lege Democrats Treasurer and sophomore Eric Reif, who led the protest. “People haven’t forgotten the human rights abuses and the systematic destruction of civil liberties that he authorized.”

Freshman Democrat Lucy Gellman said that she felt the need to protest.

“To protest was never an issue of ‘if’ for me; it was an issue of ‘when.’ Protesting made me feel powerful, [but] I have nothing against those that chose not to protest,” said Gellman.

But Gellman also says she believed that most University students are politically uninter-ested.

“I am an ardent supporter of free speech, but unfortunately I think Wash. U. is a politically ap-athetic campus,” said Gellman. “I think having such a controver-sial, far-right conservative was a perfect way to exercise our fun-damental right, and I pity those that are completely ignorant of the world around them.”

Other student protestors voiced their beliefs differently. Sophomore Felix Dowsley chose to express his political opinions through music.

“I participated in the protests with other musicians, and it was exhilarating,” said Dowsley. I jumped at the chance to rock for the cause. My friends and I played music from Rage Against the Ma-chine and Bob Dylan—standard protest fare. The emotion of the protest was positive, and the dis-content was peaceful but vocal.”

Sophomore Erin Kane, who

was unable to attend the protest, says that it was a positive devel-opment.

“The pro-Gonzales students probably felt alienated, but I think the College Republicans anticipated protests and a gener-al feeling of antagonism between the majority of the students and Gonzales,” said Kane. “The group of protestors were a really politi-cally active and aware bunch of students.”

Reif also expressed his sup-port for free speech by both par-ties, even if he does not person-ally agree with Gonzales.

“I don’t expect everyone to agree with my position, and stu-dents who support Gonzales’ politics shouldn’t expect every-one to agree with them,” he said. “The reason that this protest happened, and, quite frankly, the reason that Gonzales was invited at all is because we don’t all agree on everything.”

BY EMILY WASSERMANCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Alberto Gonzales speaks to students Tuesday evening in the 560 Build-ing. Gonzales was met with a mixed reception, with some in the community actively supporting his presence and others protesting his visit to Washington University.

bent candidates but a large one for challengers.

“Incumbents already have high awareness and challeng-ers get more bang for their buck,” said Lewis. “But it’s a zero-sum game, and there’s an incentive to overspend. The goal is just to win.”

The authors also looked at the effects of negative adver-tising and found that it hurts the incumbent and helps the challenger.

“By putting the challenger out there, even for negative

advertising, it’s still doing ad-vertising,” said Lewis. “Bully-ing also creates sympathy and makes the challenger more le-gitimate.”

The professors’ reason-ing is that if the incumbent is spending time and money on attacks, the challenger has credibility. However, running negative ads benefi ts the chal-lenger because he gets himself into the “choice set” of candi-dates through comparison.

Professor of government James Gibson published a related study in this week’s “American Political Science Review,“ analyzing the effects of attack ads, policy talks and campaign contributions on voter perception in judicial elections.

“Since 2003, campaigns for judicial offi ce have become dramatically more politi-cized,” said Gibson. “As a con-sequence, judges have started running attack ads.”

His results showed that pol-icy talks and negative ads have little to no effect on perception while campaign contributions have a large negative effect.

“There’s a confl ict of inter-

est,” said Gibson. “People see a quid pro quo relationship be-tween those who give and the candidates’ policies.”

In other words, voters think that candidates may modify their platforms to attract more contributions.

Lewis said that all this re-search has many practical ap-plications for politicians and voters.

“It might suggest how to portray and select candidates, even based on appearance variables,” he said. “It also may help marketing campaigns de-vote resources more effective-ly.”

He added that voters—and students in particular—need to be aware that what candidates say may be carefully crafted statements by marketing strat-egists. Lewis cautioned, how-ever, that all of these results are based on congressional elections and may not apply to presidential elections in which everyone is more aware of what is happening.

“You have to take a step back and realize what the mar-keting is surrounding the can-didates,” said Lewis.

students learn to use their in-dividual passions to help the community.

“Find a way to practice what you love so that other people besides you benefi t from it,” said Hansman.

According to Friedman, this week has thus far been a suc-cess; as of Thursday morning, Lock & Chain had raised $750 for City Faces.

Mr. Wash. U., another fund-raising event, is also donating proceeds to City Faces. Hans-man said he is moved by all of the student support his project is receiving.

“It’s touching almost beyond belief. It touches me very deep-ly that the students have said that this is something we care about,” said Hansman. “The Wash. U. student is our main

source of survival. They took it on; they initiated that connec-tion.”

George Washington week will culminate with a red, white and blue benefi t party for City Faces on Saturday night in the Wohl Center from 9 p.m. until mid-night. The event costs one dol-lar for attendees, Washington’s signature bill; participants may make additional donations.

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Senior Sports Editor / Trisha Wolf / sports@studlife.comFRIDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2008 STUDENT LIFE | SPORTS 3

SPORTSSPORTS

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams of Washington University have a chance to guar-antee a tie for fi rst in the UAA at season’s end this weekend.

Men’s Team

The men’s squad (18-4, 9-2 UAA) holds a one game lead in UAA play over Brandeis Uni-versity. The Bears and Judges square off Friday, ranked fourth and sixth respectively in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll.

These Division III power-houses last met on January 27 in Waltham, Mass. and the Bears escaped with a 71-69 win fueled by 25 points from senior forward and co-captain Troy Ruths. Ross Kelly, Tyler Nading and Danny O’Boyle also scored in double fi gures while Moss Schermer-horn and Aaron Thomson each made one shot.

A win against Brandeis elimi-nate the Judges from capturing sole possession of the UAA title since Wash. U. would sweep the season series.

The University of Chicago also trails Wash. U. by a game in the UAA standings and they host New York University on Fri-day before meeting Brandeis on Sunday. With the standings this close in UAA play, this weekend could decide the UAA title, turn the March 1 contest between the Maroons and the Bears into the UAA championship game, or force all three teams to scramble for a win on the fi nal Saturday of

the regular season.“I would imagine that the way

we beat them last meeting has left them wanting some serious revenge. I expect this game to be as intense as any we’ve played this season. They are a great team and we’re going to have to play well to win. They realize that if they win, they’re in a tie for fi rst in the UAA, so look for this to be a huge battle. We will do our usual preparation during this week of practice to try to get ourselves ready to compete on Friday,” said O’Boyle, a senior and co-captain.

Regardless of the result against the Judges, the Red and Green will need to handle NYU carefully on Sunday due to the closeness of the UAA. The Bears defeated NYU 57-50 in the Big Apple on January 25.

“Regardless of the outcome on Friday, we know we don’t have an easy task in NYU on Sunday. They beat Rochester last week-end, so we know they will be playing with a lot of confi dence coming in here. Hopefully an-other big crowd on Sunday will keep our intensity at a high level throughout the weekend,” stated O’Boyle.

“A UAA title would mean the realization of our fi rst goal of the season. From there, our goals are to get to the Final Four, and to win a National Champi-onship,” added Schermerhorn.

Women’s Team

The Washington University women’s basketball team (17-5,

8-3 UAA) is also battling for a UAA title. Currently, the Lady Bears are in a four-way tie with No. 19 University of Rochester, Chicago and Brandies atop the UAA.

Rochester will face Case Western Reserve University and Emory University this weekend before ending with Carnegie Mel-lon University on March 1 while Chicago, Brandeis and Wash. U. play each other and NYU in the same sequence as their male counterparts. With Rochester facing three teams that it has al-ready defeated, which also com-prise the bottom half of the UAA, it is likely that the Lady Bears, Lady Judges or Lady Maroons will need to win to tie Roches-ter, which split games with all three schools for the UAA title. Brandeis currently holds a slight lead over both Wash. U. and Chi-cago in the standings due to pre-vious wins this season.

The Lady Bears know how im-perative it is to win on Friday, as Brandeis crushed the Bears 66-48 on Jan 27.

“While we are excited to get another chance against Brandeis, we are more excited to face the challenge of defending our UAA title. We know Brandeis. And they know us. It’s just going to come down to who has the de-termination and focus to carry out their game plan on the court Friday night,” said captain Jill Brandt.

Brandt also admitted that the team needed to make a minor adjustment to reach the next level of play. “We try to prepare

each game the same, no matter the competition. Every game is a big game. However, our goal this week is to sharpen our focus on the court. There have been times in the past few games when we lost that focus and it caused a turnover or gave the other team another opportunity,” she said.

Being at home should also help the Lady Bears this week-end. “It gives you that extra sense that you’re playing for something,” said sophomore Janice Evans.

Evans has experienced a breakout of sorts recently, as she led the team in points dur-ing both games last weekend en route to recording her fi rst career double-double. Freshmen Alex Hoover and Kathryn Berger have also made big shots this year and will likely play a major role in the success of the team.

Following Friday’s contest comes another matchup with UAA rival NYU. “[This match is] not to be taken lightly. They’re coming here with a chip on their shoulder. We are treating them like any other team in our con-ference,” said Evans.

“Winning the UAA is an in-credible accomplishment, par-ticularly because it is one of the best conferences in the country. It would be great,” added Brandt. “But, we realize that the UAA title is a long way away. We still have two weeks of basketball ahead of us, and a lot can happen in a short time in the UAA. We are just trying to take it all a day at a time and maintain our focus both on and off the court.”

Bears welcome Brandeis, NYU in UAA showdownsBY JOSHUA GOLDMAN SPORTS EDITOR

BASKETBALL

This weekend doesn’t just bring great basketball games; it brings a lot of treats for sports fans as well.

Friday’s games against Brandeis University are jam-packed. The festivities begin with Domino’s pizza courtesy of Red Alert at 5:45 p.m. before the 6 p.m. tip-off of the wom-en’s game.

Red Alert is sponsoring a George Washington costume contest at the women’s game.

“There are three Grants ($50 bills) for the winners, in keeping with the presidential theme,” said Red Alert co-presi-dent and senior Kristy Kramer.

Contestants will walk out on the court at the beginning of halftime where they will be judged by a panel of experts.

According to Trevor Mac-Donald of the Washington Uni-

versity Athletics Department, there will be an Olympic Table Tennis Competition at halftime of the women’s game. The Yao brothers, Justen and Alex, will give a table tennis exhibition.

Fourteen-year-old Justen was named the 2007 Male Athlete of the year by the U.S. Table Tennis Association. The honor was approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee while his 12-year-old brother Alex was Champion for the U.S. World-wide Open Tournament in the 13-year-old and 18-year-old groups.

After halftime is over, the two brothers and their mother will host a free clinic in the In-tramural Gym for additional demonstrations and competi-tion. “Any person interested in table tennis whether they are an advanced player or just a be-ginner of any age is welcome to challenge for a serious match,” said MacDonald in an e-mail.

Members of the Wash. U. Table Tennis Club will assist in the clinic.

“It’s defi nitely an exciting opportunity for Wash. U. in general,” said President of the Table Tennis Club and senior Xihui Lin. “It’s a great oppor-tunity to let people know about our program at Wash. U.”

The Athletics Department will also be handing out vari-ous promotional items such as T-shirts, foam fi ngers, posters and more from the Will Fer-rell movie “Semi Pro” on Friday night.

Sunday’s games don’t suf-fer from a lack of content as the Bears celebrate Senior Day while Thurtene, the junior hon-orary, celebrates the group’s annual Hoops Day.

“Sunday is the last regu-lar season home game for the Bears, and we hope to build as much support for the team as possible through the extra

attendance,” said Public Rela-tions co-chair, junior Matthew Beckley.

Thurtene will also have a T-shirt giveaway related to Hoops Day while supplies last and hold a raffl e to enter a half-time contest where the winner will receive a mountain bike. To win, contestants must beat their opponents in a head to head bat spin and then lay up.

Free pizza will also be given away to feed hungry fans.

All of these events will help make the last homestand of the regular season a memorable one.

“It’s hard to think that this is going to be my fi nal two home games of the regular season,” said senior Danny O’Boyle of the men’s basketball team. “It’s a culmination of four years of hard work and dedication to the program. Winning both games this weekend is the way I want to go out.”

BY JOHANN QUA HIANSENSPORTS EDITOR

Field House full of great games and giveaways this weekend

“I would want it to be a panther because they are sleek and sexy.” -Alex Kiles,

Freshman

“A dolphin because they are the smartest animal.” -Rachel Bernard,

Sophomore

“A wig because it reminds me of George Washington.” -Michael Martinez,

Sophomore

“I’d want it to be a unicorn because it promotes peace and happiness.” -Diana Dickinson,

Freshman

If you could change the

Wash. U. mascot, what

would it be and why?

—Co

mpi

led

by R

ache

l Met

ter

“I am happy with the bear because it is a powerful and big creature. It’s common but I like it.” -Nathan Thompson,

Junior

VANTAGE POINT v FROM PAGE 6the reviewer was left watching the same 15 minute clip eight times in 90 minutes.

The reviewer expands his theory. It wasn’t just a gim-mick; it was a hindrance. Because of the short amount of time given to each “piece of the puzzle” (the reviewer also despises this cliché), the action got repetitive and it stopped surprising. The story fell from its pedestal, too, and the reviewer was forced to watch the President’s hokey trickery unravel like a plot from “Ac-cording to Jim.”

The different vantage points didn’t add to the mystery as much as they got rid of it. There weren’t any hints to the twists scattered through-

out, only vital plot points left completely unexplained and unexplored.

Not unlike the reviewer’s pe-culiar blank Word document, might I add. I suppose I could take you back and explain a bit more, but who would honestly enjoy rehashing this thing again?

Vantage Point

Rating: ★★✩✩✩Starring: Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Forest WhitakerDirected by: Pete Travis

MCT

Secret Service Agents Holden (Richard T. Jones, left) and Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid, right) assist a fellow agent in the movie Vantage Point.

Senior Forum Editor / Nathan Everly / forum@studlife.com FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 20084 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM

YOUR VOICE: LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMNS

Student Life welcomes letters to the editor and op-ed submissions from readers.

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Editorials are written by the Forum editors and refl ect the consen-sus of the editorial board. The editorial board operates indepen-dently of the newsroom.

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We welcome your submissions and thank you for your consideration.

According to Wednesday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the students who

invited Alberto Gonzales to Washington University Tues-day night and the protesters who showed up to denounce the former Attorney General could agree on one thing: his presence helped revive political activism at the school.

As the sounds of protest and dialogue subside, I want to offer a resounding thank you to students, administra-tors, the Washington Uni-versity Police Department (WUPD) and the St. Louis

community. When it was announced

in November that Gonzales would come speak here, I heard an array of responses from disgust to curiosity to excitement. Many students were in favor of hearing him speak despite their disap-proval of his actions as At-torney General.

I want to thank the Col-lege Democrats for their facilitation of constructive dialogue through round-table discussions, a town hall meeting and a teach-in for law school professors to express their concerns about Gonzales’ past ac-tions. Along with the Peace and Justice Coalition, they implemented a successful

protest that garnered na-tional attention. In addition to having members create posters and wear orange jumpsuits to class, they pro-vided their members with an opportunity to march to the venue and protest with local area groups. Protes-tors who chose to attend the speech did so respectfully and through their actions promoted freedom of speech on our campus.

Across the aisle, I want to thank Ryan Winograd and the College Republicans for hosting a speaker that represents a minority view. By hosting Gonzales, they sparked significant dialogue and action on our some-times-apathetic campus.

Winograd, the organization’s vice president and main organizer of the event, at-tended College Democrats meetings and participated in their discussions. The open communication and mutual respect exhibited by both Winograd and College Demo-crats’ President Ben Guthorn are remarkable given the national political climate. Their cooperation enabled a successful event on Tuesday, both inside and outside of the 560 Building.

While student groups were involved in making the event successful, neither the protests nor the speech would have happened with-out the permission of the Wash. U. administration—

and I thank them for this. I understand that they were under pressure to kill the event. In addition, the secu-rity and logistical concerns could have easily caused the event to collapse under its own weight. Yet, they still supported our right to bring in a big name, controversial speaker despite the addi-tional headache it would cause. This precedent is a step in the right direction for students and is some-thing we can build upon.

My final thanks goes to the Washington University Police Department for keep-ing the event safe, both for protesters and listeners. The Gonzales speech and protest had the potential to

be very dangerous. WUPD spent months coordinating with University City Police, the 560 Building manage-ment and student groups to ensure that protests could occur on the premises and that participants would be safe.

Even though Gonzales’ speech was not profound, I believe his presence brought something out of many stu-dents. And as we prepare for the upcoming elections in November, I hope we con-tinue our spirit of political activism.

Neil is the president of Student Union. He can be reached via e-mail at presi-dent@su.wustl.edu.

Thanks to everyone involved in the Alberto Gonzales eventBY NEIL PATELOP-ED SUBMISSION

RACHEL TEPPER | EDITORIAL CARTOON

Steven Kazmierczak is the latest suicide murderer who bought several guns, dressed in

black and blew away students at a university. We all ask “why” and fi nd some comfort in the fact that he had stopped taking his Prozac for about three weeks. Whew. At least our society is not to blame for this evil act. But if he had stayed on Prozac, would he have still pulled the trigger 30 times before taking his own life? I think he would have.

Evil of this magnitude, though 27 bodies below Vir-ginia Tech’s record, stretches our faith. I don’t mean faith in God, but rather our faith in a world without God. Running deep in secular academia is the fi rmly held belief that a world without any gods, a God, and especially this Jesus guy, will bow to reason and reason-able people. Anti-theist Sam Harris believes that without religion we can be reasonable. “It is the very nature of reason

to fuse cognitive and moral horizons. Reason is nothing less than the guardian of love.”

What a great ode to reason! But can Harris’ faith in reason explain Kazmierczak? I believe it can, but not to a secularist’s liking. Reason is a tool and not an end in itself. We use reason to select which moral ends will guide our lives and use practical reason to determine how to follow those ends. But what standard does reason use to choose what is right and wrong? Harris assumes that people will choose the obvi-ous goal of loving each other. Kazmierczak didn’t come to that conclusion and he chose the moral end of power.

I base my highly speculative conclusion on the contents of a Valentine package Kazmierc-zak sent to his girlfriend. It contained two books—a psychopathology textbook and “The Antichrist” by Nietzsche. I believe Kazmierczak chose power as a moral end because of his obvious appreciation of Nietzsche’s insights. Note the

See BAUMAN, page 5

BY DAVID BAUMANOP-ED SUBMISSION

Can reason save us?

STAFF EDITORIAL

Recently, Washington Uni-versity announced that stu-dents from families earning less than $60,000 would no longer be expected to take out student loans to pay for their education. Instead, the University will provide those students with grants that do not have to be repaid. This decision affects both newly admitted students as well as returning students.

The reason why Wash-ington University is now prepared to make this addi-tional financial commitment is because of the continued financial success of the University endowment. Over the 2006 fiscal year, the en-dowment skyrocketed from $4.75 billion to $5.66 billion. As a result, the University is prepared to spend the addi-

tional $2.5 million required to implement this new policy for the 2008-2009 school year, on top of the $60 mil-lion it already spends on financial aid. As Chancel-lor Wrighton stated in an interview with Student Life on Monday, “This is a part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that Washing-ton University remains an institution that can provide an educational experience for students with moderate financial backgrounds.”

Our first response to this news is to congratulate Chancellor Wrighton and the rest of the administration for working to make this possible. Making college af-fordable for low and middle-income students should be one of the top priorities of

this administration, and recent policies, such as the 4.9 percent tuition increase, have made it unclear wheth-er the University is truly committed to this goal. Nev-ertheless, this is an excel-lent step in the right direc-tion, and with the continued success of the University’s endowment, we expect the administration’s commit-ment to these students to grow.

As we have stated, we believe that this new policy is just a first step. And while there is certainly a lot to like about it, there are two ways that it could be improved. First, we would like to see the scope of the new policy eventually be expanded. While this decision is simi-lar to policies implemented

at Stanford University and Harvard University, it is also much less ambitious. Stan-ford University has agreed to give free tuition to under-graduates from families earning less than $100,000 per year. And Harvard Uni-versity, which already gives free tuition to students from families earning less than $60,000, stipulates that fam-ilies earning up to $180,000 must contribute only 10 percent of their income to pay for tuition.

For obvious reasons, Washington University can-not afford to offer a similar-ly ambitious plan. Harvard University maintains an endowment worth $34.6 bil-lion, and Stanford University has a $22.5 billion endow-ment. That said, we believe

that Washington University can work towards expanding its financial aid to include more middle-class students. The University’s new aid expansion is only a 4.2 per-cent increase in financial aid spending.

The second step that Washington University could make is to admit more quali-fied low-income students. Currently, the University has a very poor record of re-cruiting and admitting qual-ified low-income students. The new financial aid policy will affect just 600 students. And according to the Insti-tute for College Access and Success, just five percent of Washington University’s undergraduate students received federal Pell grants in 2005-2006. Federal Pell

grants, which are scholar-ships given to low-income students, are considered a good barometer of economic diversity on campus because they are typically given to students from families earning $40,000 or less. Without a long-term effort to increase the number of low-income students who attend Washington University, this new policy will be little more than an empty gesture.

But with all of this being said, we must once again state how impressed we are with the administration for making this commitment. This is indeed a big victory for low- and middle-income students. Now let’s work to-ward improving Washington University’s socioeconomic diversity.

New fi nancial aid policy is a good fi rst step

Senior Forum Editor / Nathan Everly / forum@studlife.comFRIDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2008 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM 5

Over the past few years, our members of Congress have developed an odd

habit of poking their noses into professional sports. It began in 2005 when Con-gress subpoenaed Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro and oth-ers to testify about their use of steroids while playing Major League Baseball. When the Mitchell Report on the use of steroids in profes-sional baseball was released last year, President Bush personally commented on it. This month, Roger Clemens was subpoenaed to testify about his use of steroids in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The event was a partisan spectacle; Democrats ques-tioned Clemens tougher than their Senate counterparts had questioned Michael Mukasey during his Attorney Gen-eral nomination hearing, and Republicans praised him as if he were a war hero. Also this month, Congress moved beyond professional baseball to football, when Republi-can Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania demanded a personal meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the New England Patriots’ long history of cheat-ing.

Now, I personally care about these issues, because I’m a sports fan and I can’t stand cheating. (I even wrote a column on “Spygate” just two weeks ago.) But when I heard that senators and representatives were taking it upon themselves to inves-tigate the issue, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were more important priorities for Congress.

Of course, our elected offi -cials in Congress have defend-ed their inquiries. They claim that they are investigating the use of steroids among base-ball stars because they are worried about the example it might set for children who look up to them. And Sen. Specter told the Associated Press that he was looking into the Patriots cheating scandal because “we have a right to honest football games.”

Don’t be fooled. These aren’t the real reasons that our representatives in Wash-ington are involving them-selves in professional sports. Exposing baseball players as steroid users does nothing

but show young people that even the heroes they wor-ship had to use steroids to succeed. And Arlen Specter cannot truly believe that not only do the American people have a right to watch honest

football games but that it is his personal re-sponsibility to protect that right.

Our elected offi -cials do this for pretty simple reasons: they want to be on televi-sion more often, they want to meet profes-sional athletes and they simply want to be-

come involved in the world of sports (which many of them most likely were kept out of as children). All of this can be seen in the way that members of Congress publicly drama-tize the issue and gawk over the athletes like children at the ballpark. After Roger Clemens’ hearing, he signed autographs for congressional staffers, and Arlen Specter was more than happy to theorize to media outlets that the Patriots may have cheated against his hometown favorite Philadelphia Eagles in the Su-per Bowl and the Pittsburgh Steelers in playoff games.

What has been accom-plished by all of this? In any of these cases, has Congress succeeded in its mission to protect children or the integrity of the games? Their hearings and meetings are merely media spectacles that serve no real purpose. Why, then, is all of this necessary? With major problems such as war, America’s tactics in the war on terrorism, the slipping economy, poverty, the envi-ronment and countless others facing the country (and the world), how can this be such a high priority? And how are our elected representatives not held responsible for their extreme wastefulness of time and resources on these issues of extraordinarily minor importance?

The questions of whether baseball players have injected steroids and whether the New England Patriots cheated in the Super Bowl ought to be left to sports writers and ESPN. It is not the job of the United States Congress to investigate these issues. Our representatives need to stop being fans and start acting like elected offi cials in the American legislature.

Altin is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@studlife.com.

Dear Congress: Stay out of sports

Altin Sila

Despite progress in gender relations over the last 50 years, women still earn less

than men, roughly 80 cents to every dollar men earn. This is an improvement, however, as women earned 62 cents to every male dollar in 1979. Un-fortunately, this climb seems to have stalled and recent data suggests that the upward trend in female earning power has reached a ceiling.

Economists suggest that the wage gap can be explained primarily by two factors. First, women tend to follow lower-paying degrees and careers such as English and teaching. Though some critics argue that these professions earn less because of their feminine as-sociation and not because they perform less valuable services, that argument does not make sense. If true, women would also earn less than men in their same fi eld, but that is not the case.

Second, women have to take time off from work to have babies and raise them. During this period, their husbands continue to earn money and receive promotions. Aside from

the immediate costs of having a baby (hospital fees, diapers, extra food, etc.), the mother thus loses the income she would have earned working. The time spent out of the work-force then slows down the pace of promotion and lowers the gains of future wage growth. For women in higher paying fi elds, this opportunity cost can be very high (i.e. it costs a lot more for a lawyer to have a baby than for a waitress). And if a woman wants more than one child, she may face several years of withdrawal from the workforce. There is a large cost to having children and it explains a signifi cant amount of the persistent wage gap.

I can think of two solutions. The fi rst is to offer paternity leave: If men miss an equal amount of work as women because of their children, then the wage difference should narrow. Since this would come from men having less earning potential (and women more), it is easy to see that many men may not like this idea. In ad-dition, few corporations offer paternity leave. When I asked a Deloitte & Touche USA LLP rep-resentative, a fi rm which prides itself on its generous mater-nity leave, if it offers paternity leave, the man responded, in

surprise: “No. Why would you need that? When you are 28 or 29, we expect you to be pursu-ing your career.” Men should not be looked down upon for wanting to help raise their newborn child.

Though further off, I think an equally practical answer is a pregnancy machine. Once the woman is pregnant, she would have the option of removing the fertilized egg and leaving it in the care of a machine that recreates the womb experi-ence. After 38 weeks, the new parents could pick up their children at the hospital.

Once we think about the strides in childcare made since the Industrial Revolution, the idea is not as crazy as it ini-tially appears. For most of hu-man history, those we consider children were not viewed as people, as viable beings, until they reached a threshold, often three to fi ve years of age. Not until the creature survived the threat of disease and malnutri-tion did its parents view it as a child, a human being to which they could become attached. As technology and medicine progressed, we started to view children as viable from the moment they exited the womb, and invested them with the emotional care that is standard

today. But our view of children has

been shaped by technological advances, not some ethical progression. Even now, babies born with fewer than 38 weeks of gestation can survive; the youngest birth recorded was at 22 weeks, almost half the anatomical requirement. My point is that technology will one day make babies viable at day zero, and women will have the choice to not go through a standard pregnancy and its requisite economic costs.

I do not know when this will happen, and it probably will not be before we have children. But I am convinced that closing the wage gap requires over-coming the costs of pregnancy, and a machine which obviates the entire process will close any part of the pay gap not due to different choice of profes-sions.

It might seem cold and dystopic to us now, but in the future people may look back on us just as we do on our ancestors: as a society with re-pressed women and backwards attitudes toward children.

Zachary is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a staff columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at zsteiner@artsci.wustl.edu.

BY ZACHARY STEINERT-THRELKELDSTAFF COLUMNIST

Wage inequality and pregnancy machines

TEMU BROWN | STUDENT LIFE

As recently as a month ago, there was only one major presidential candidate who truly

scared me: Mike Huckabee. Fortunately, at this point in time the only thing that can save him is a true act of God. While Huckabee might actually believe this to be plausible, I’m pretty comfortable with saying that he won’t win the Repub-lican Party nomination. You would think I would be satis-fi ed now, but no. That’s because in recent days and weeks, I’ve noticed an increasingly alarm-ing trend regarding a different campaign.

It’s not so much that I’m upset with the fact that Barack Obama is exponentially gain-ing support; it’s how he’s doing it that bothers me.

But before I go any further, let me make it clear that I’m not trying to attack Obama or anyone who supports him. I just want to make sure that if the American people elect him to be our next president (which seems to be more and more likely every day), that they do so for the right reasons. That’s the closest thing to a disclaim-er that I can offer. Read on at your own risk.

It’s time to get real: Barack Obama’s policies are virtu-ally no different than those of Hillary Clinton or, for that matter, all of the Democratic candidates who dropped out of the race. They endorse most

things that are considered liberal ideas. Yes, there are some differences between the two: for example, Obama supports meeting with heads of state like North Korea’s Kim Jong-il and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while Clinton opposes such actions (at least in the fi rst year of her presidency). Basically, though, if you support the Democratic Party, then your vote in the primaries should be (at least in my opinion) for who you think can enforce their policies best. Therein lies the rub.

My problem with Obama used to be that he hasn’t been entrenched in the Washington political scene long enough to become commander in chief. Now, however, recent develop-ments have me convinced that he is in fact too experienced in the fi eld of contemporary poli-tics. He’s seen how the typical campaign works, the one fi lled with promises that can’t be kept, mudslinging and self-ag-grandizement, and he realizes that there is another way: you simply hide it all.

You take the bad stuff, the boring stuff, the stuff which the average American doesn’t have time to follow (and even if they did have time wouldn’t care about) and you omit it from your speeches. You get rid of the tedious logic which defi nes your platform and you replace it with pure pathos. Tell the crowd that your campaign to get yourself elected isn’t actually about you, it’s about them. Instead of detailing your

plan with complex rhetoric and big words that you got from that top-notch university, fi nd a rudimentary expression and use it as a message of hope that people will chant every time you pause to catch your breath (or if you’re really good, at any arbitrary time in the middle of your sentences). You do these kinds of things, I’ve found, and John and Jane Q. Citizen will truly believe you’re serious. They really will see you as the “Candidate of Change”, the “Unifi er of a Nation,” and (if the recent string of people faint-ing at campaign rallies is any indicator) a genuinely messi-anic fi gure.

Now, I realize that what I’m saying makes me look like a pretty big jerk (there’s actually a more appropriate word, but I don’t think I could put it in here), but I hope people will understand that it’s hard to express the way I feel in such a small space. I want to make it clear that I am not against all Obama supporters. On the contrary, there are plenty of people out there who do look at the issues and believe he has the best platform, or who really deep down inside think that Hillary Clinton’s past ac-tions do not merit the honor of leading the free world. That’s perfectly alright. I don’t grade homework based on accuracy, only for completeness.

My quarrel, if you’d call it that, is with the zombies who chant “Yes We Can” without any understanding of what it really is “we” can do, and

with the robots who wave their “Stand For Change” and “Change We Can Believe In” banners without knowing what “change” actually means. They’re out there, and they may very well give Obama the election, which to me is just as bad as (if not worse than) the superdelegates doing the same thing for Hillary.

I’m not saying everyone needs to know everything (because I certainly don’t), but I just want to make sure that we make the right choice for the next four or eight years. Maybe that choice is Barack Obama, and maybe he truly will elimi-nate factions and corruption and unite this country under peace and harmony, but right now I haven’t seen enough practical solutions to go with that idealism (not to men-tion that the kind of national cohesion he’s talking about has never truly existed in the United States, but that’s a story for another day).

Maybe you still say I’m wrong (and want to call me that word I said I couldn’t put in here) and that Obama really is going to bring about “change” and “unity” and that everyone who supports him is actually fully aware of just what it is for which he stands. If you do, then congratulations: you’ve just proved my point for me.

Brian is a freshman in Arts & Sciences and a staff columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at brprice@artsci.wustl.edu.

My (brief) take on Barack ObamaBY BRIAN PRICESTAFF COLUMNIST

well-reasoned opening to “The Antichrist”: “What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness. . .The weak and the failures shall perish: fi rst principle of our love of man. And they shall even be given every possible assis-tance.”

Nietzsche and Kazmierczak are not unreasonable because they defi ne their love of man as the perishing of the weak. How could we criticize this as unreasonable if that is his chosen moral end and reason has no standard for saying he is wrong? Some may argue that reason concludes that all people have dignity and should not be harmed. But that is another opinion based on our desire to stay alive. If our desires are reasons, then this moral end is fi ne for us, but don’t think that Kazmierczak is being unreasonable just be-cause he had different desires.

My main point is that be-lieving that reason will deliver us from evil is an illusion. One would think that the Holo-caust, enacted by scientists, doctors, politicians, philoso-phers and theologians, would have shaken us from our blind reliance on human reason for salvation. The problem and the solution is not reason, but rath-er what moral ends we choose. From a secular worldview, the choice is up to the individual.

Am I going overboard about academic faith in reason? Consider this quote by Virginia Tech president Charles Steger writing to NIU. He laments, “We would like to think that institutions of learning and of rational thought would be

spared such madness. Sadly, this is not the case in today’s world.” It is sad that he has a misplaced faith in reason to stop the madness. But the madness will not stop with more rational thought because secular reason rarely address-es what gives meaning to our lives.

Meaning fi lls the spiritual void that people like Kazmierc-zak often fi ll with power and pleasure. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote that the will to power and the will to pleasure “are mere derivatives of man’s primary concern, that is, his will to meaning.” Yes, some people need meds, but our deepest need is for meaning that goes beyond reason and scientifi c facts. Reason could be depicted as a ladle at the trough of meaning, but when a person’s trough is empty secular universities tell him to either medicate or distract himself with pleasure (sex week, alcohol) or power (poli-tics, career). Then he can get busy studying the ladle which is what universities do best.

If top universities won’t step up to the challenge of ad-dressing both the minds and hearts of students, then we might as well highly medicate our society from birth (as we are rapidly doing to boys in particular) and buy kevlar vests for when they forget to take their pills.

Reason will not deliver us from hollow men who fi nd power in hollow points. Love and meaning guided by reason has, can and will.

David is a graduate stu-dent in philosophy. He can be reached via e-mail at dcbau-man@artsci.wustl.edu.

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people united in the belief that an ethical life creates a more just, loving and

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Ethical Society of St. Louis(1/4 mile west of the Galleria)

9001 Clayton Rd.(314) 991-0955

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7019 Forsyth BlvdSt. Louis, MO 63105863.8140 lcm@sugroups.wustl.edu

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Senior Cadenza Editor / Brian Stitt / cadenza@studlife.com FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 20086 STUDENT LIFE | CADENZA

CADEN CADEN entertainment

n. a technically brilliant, sometimes improvised solo passage toward the close of a concerto,

an exceptionally brilliant part of an artistic work

arts &ZAAZZ

BY MATT KARLANCADENZA REPORTER

Short fi lms. Nobody watches them except the Oscar nominating comittee and yet we still wonder who will win that coveted award. Sometimes they can even lead to mainstream success; “In Bruges” director Martin McDonagh won two years ago, and before that he was just a well-respected, award-win-ning playwright. Now he’s important. This year’s batch of Oscar-nominated shorts begins with “Tanghi Argen-tini,” a Belgian fi lm following a jolly man who attempts to learn the tango in order to impress a woman he meets on the Internet. He seeks a coworker’s help and hijinks somewhat ensues. The plot is undoubtedly trite, so much so that the “surprise” end-ing does not have as much of an impact as it should. But it means well and one gets the opportunity to listen to Bel-gians for half an hour. They have such corrosive, standoff-ish accents, and yet they’re

always smiling and laugh-ing. You would think natural selection would have brought their voices up an octave to match their buoyant person-alities, but I haven’t taken a science class in a while so what do I know?

A short fi lm’s duration must be 40 minutes or under to be nominated for the Oscar. The Danish, “At Night,” was exactly 40. And yet it felt so much longer. The picture follows three cancer-stricken women in a lonely hospi-tal ward from Christmas through New Year’s Eve. The fi lm is certainly melodra-matic, as are most Danish fi lms, yet the acting remains affecting. The picture be-comes exponentially more depressing as it continues and, never a good sign for a short fi lm, runs far too long. But the Academy should love it because it dominates the rest of the fi eld in the gravity-of-subject-matter department.

“The Substitute” (“Il Sup-plente”) is an Italian picture that progresses in an intel-ligent manner without ever

being condescending (I’m talking to you, Juno). Al-though some jokes fall very fl at, a healthy majority of it is chuckle-inducing, occasion-ally to the point of guffaw. Its subtle commentary is surpris-ing and appreciated, and it ends without overstaying its welcome, which is even more appreciated. It has likeability and, of the comedies nomi-nated, the most substance. Therefore it could be a popu-lar pick for younger, happier Oscar voters.

The British enter the foray of the Western with “The Tonto Woman,” an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard story. The fi lm may have beauty, but it lacks brains. It has more impressive cinematography than “3:10 to Yuma,” another Western this year adapted from a Leonard work. But at least “3:10 to Yuma” had a screenplay. I guess the screen-play of “The Tonto Woman” was mostly blank, with the occasional direction “mug for camera in strange accent.” The fi lm attempts to make up for its lack of plot with

breathtaking cinematography and that works at times, but not enough.

“The Mozart of Pickpock-ets” was French, fast-paced and funny. And it has no chance to win the Oscar. The picture’s topic seems point-less compared to the other more “important” subjects of the shorts nominated, and that will certainly damage its odds of winning. But the leads in this fi lm are so mesmerizingly cute together that I entirely disregarded its frivolity. I laughed more and cared more for the characters than I did with any of the other shorts. And I didn’t mind the picture’s predictable nature because I had so much fun watching. If I had a vote this would win hands down, and that’s why I don’t have a vote. So in the end seeing these shorts was an exercise in why the Academy irritates me—and yet I will watch the Oscars with sweaty palms, anticipating the Academy to relay the word of God. So the Academy and I have a love/hate relationship.

BY PERCY OLSENCADENZA REPORTER

Let me tell you a story about a humble reviewer.

The reviewer kicks his door open. Blood drips down from his lips. He looks tired, maybe he’s limping. He’s defi nitely stumbling. He walks toward his laptop, a movie fresh in his mind: It’s “The Parent Trap,” but only because Dennis Quaid was in both that movie and the one he just saw, “Vantage Point.”

He thinks about the Pete Travis directed fi lm. Who is Pete? The reviewer is not entirely sure…hopefully a man with brown hair. His direc-tion was pretty decent, but the story was disappointingly shallow.

He wishes there had been more action, because that’s what the trailer seemed to sug-gest. In fact, he can’t remember a single action sequence in the movie. He tries, but all im-ages of terrorist Javier (Edgar Ramirez), blowing stuff to hell have been replaced with the hilarious sight of Forest Whitaker trying to chase after a suspicious man while wear-ing fl ip-fl ops.

Who’d Whitaker play again? The reviewer starts typing. Maybe that will jog his mem-ory. Howard Lewis, that’s his character’s name. And what was the point of his character? Ah…he’s not sure.

Looking back at it, he’s not sure why any of the characters were there. None of them had any personality. It’s easy to blame it on the tired dialogue. Far too easy. The whole movie had this neat “Rashamon”-esque videotape style rewind thing. That must have had something to do with the char-acter development.

The reviewer looks at his Mi-crosoft Word document. Even though he’s been typing fever-ishly for the last 20 minutes, it’s blank. How come? Bring in the “whoosh” sound effect, and

I’ll take another look.The reviewer calmly opens

the door to his dorm room. He takes a swig of his daily Hawai-ian Punch. Glorious. He wipes some deliciousness off his lips. He trips over himself because he’s trying to take his shoes off without using his hands. He doesn’t want the Punch to stray far.

Thinking about the movie, the reviewer remembers that Dennis Quaid was good, al-though he always looked angry and constipated. Of course, the script said he was a nut job, so maybe he played it that way based on the director’s wishes. The reviewer muses about Pete Travis, the (unfortunately) redheaded director of “Van-tage Point.” The camera moved swiftly, but towards what? Every single kill is off screen, fi tting the PG-13 vibe.

The reviewer thinks that the few actual action scenes were also quite boring. Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) had basically no screen time, except for, of course, the obligatory chase se-quence at the end of the movie. The “disguised” terrorists were obvious from the get-go. Whitaker’s character seemed superfl uous to the whole story. His “chase scene” wasn’t excit-ing at all, and his “calling” was to save a little girl he’d just met while all the other charac-ters were trying to rescue the kidnapped President? Please. Whitaker just wasn’t worth it. The reviewer starts to type.

None of the characters stood out and the reviewer may be getting to why that happened. Every scene boiled down to this: Character A would listen to Character B’s monologue of his life story in vague specifi cs. Then Charac-ter B would shut up for a bit and let Character A say why he y’ar what he y’ar. The movie sacrifi ces breathing characters for the rewind gimmick, and

It’s not the size but how you use it:

The Oscar-nominated live-action shorts

‘Vantage Point’ offers no point

or focus

See VANTAGE POINT, page 3

MOVIE REVIEW

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First ImpressionsWhen I fi rst walked up to

the 2008 Mustang GT test car, I was unsure of what to expect. Admittedly, I had preconceived notions of older Mustangs with parts-bin interiors, squishy handling and only one re-deeming quality: the engine.

Needless to say, I was in for a surprise. The current genera-tion Mustang is a gorgeously retro yet more sophisticated interpretation of the classic pony car.

Believe it or not, there re-ally is such a thing as a “pony car,” but unfortunately, it has nothing to do with frolicking ponies. In reality, the term “pony car” defi nes a class of cars inspired by the original 1964 Ford Mustang, which was an inexpensive, sports-ori-ented car with an emphasis on style. Thankfully, none of the traditions Ford inspired with the original Mustang are lost on the latest iteration.

The exterior was aggressive and well-proportioned with sleek lines and a bold stance. Moreover, subtle styling cues such as the standard rear spoiler and 17” painted-alumi-num wheels immediately set the car apart from the rest of the herd. My test car was black; however, available colors range

from Windveil Blue Metallic to Grabber Orange to Torch Red.

The InteriorThe interior of the new

Mustang is an impressive step above previous Mustangs, although it is still not up to the fi t and fi nish of import com-petitors like the Nissan 350Z or the Honda S2000. I did, how-ever, enjoy the retro styling cues, including the dip above the center console, the three-spoke steering wheel and the large pods housing the speed-ometer and tachometer. When buying a Mustang, spring for the Interior Upgrade Package if at all possible, because it includes a leather-wrapped steering wheel with satin-alu-minum spokes, a satin-alumi-num-plated shift lever, a six-gauge instrument cluster with MyColor, and a host of other shiny trim pieces. The MyColor system is a bit gimmicky but I like it anyway. It allows the driver to change the color of the instrument panel to one of 125 different hues. I also enjoyed the ambient lighting system, a $395 option that illu-minates all four footwells and the front cupholders in one of seven different hues. Further-more, I liked having two power plugs, because the one in the armrest can charge a phone while the one at the top of the center console can run a radar detector (unoffi cially, of

course—radar detectors are illegal in many states).

My tester came with the standard supportive bucket seats wrapped in Stampeding Horse pattern cloth. I enjoyed the standard six-way power driver seat with power lumbar and was quickly able to fi nd a comfortable driving position. I would recommend opting for the leather seats if you want to increase the quality feel of the interior. With regard to the back seats, I have only one thing to say—don’t put any-thing back there except your toolbox or your handbag-sized poodle.

The Sound SystemThe standard stereo in

my test car consisted of an AM/FM radio, single CD (MP3 capable) and four speakers totaling 160 watts in power. The CD I listened to sounded decent on the system; however, if you enjoy music I highly recommend upgrading to the Shaker 500 Audio System that includes a six-disc in-dash CD changer, MP3 player input and eight speakers with a total of 500 watts of power. Now, if you want your Mustang to double as an air-raid siren on the weekends, then you must get the Shaker 1000 Audio System with an earth-shattering 1000 watts (1kW for all you engi-neers) of power. Awesome.

The Ride

I must admit that actually driving the Mustang GT was my favorite part of the pro-cess, mostly due to the strange connection that immediately formed between my right foot and my mouth. Every time my foot went down, my mouth turned up into a smile. The GT comes standard with a 4.6L V-8 pumping out an exciting 300 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque. In all the years I have been a car enthusiast, I can think of few engines I enjoy listening to more than a Mus-tang V-8, particularly when it has an aftermarket exhaust.

My test car unfortunately (in my opinion) came with the fi ve-speed automatic transmis-sion, yet the spirit of the car was unadulterated. The trans-mission tried to play along by holding gears longer than many other automatics I have driven; however, it remained rather obstinate and uninter-ested in downshifting when I was exiting corners. Nonethe-less, the car was remarkably composed through the corners and over rough railroad tracks. The interior did not squeak or rattle and the steering remained nicely fi rm albeit a bit numb for my taste and not as progressive as I might want in a sports car. The standard

live rear axle is very good at transferring weight to the rear wheels for good launches from a standstill. Not that I ever did that on a backcountry road, or anything.

All that pony-ing around comes with a price at the pump. The automatic trans-mission mated to the V-8 gets the worst fuel economy of the entire Mustang lineup with an

EPA estimated 15 miles per gallon in the city and 22 on the highway.

Final OpinionThe new Mustang GT is a

seriously quick car with a fun personality, a hot image with a long heritage and a host of fans the world over.

For more information feel free to contact John Ream with Lou Fusz Ford at (636) 532-9955 or online at jream@fusz.com.

Senior Scene Editor / Meghan Luecke / scene@studlife.com FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 20088 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE

SCENESCENE

The Blue Elephant is not your typical Thai restaurant. Each dish is a work

of art; the chefs here demon-strate their culinary expertise through exquisite presenta-tion. Their work has been recognized by publications across the country, includ-ing Chef Magazine, Food and Wine and the Chicago Tribune. Blue Elephant’s chefs have also appeared as guest chefs on national television shows, including shows on the Food Network. Though the presenta-tion alone makes this restau-rant a standout, the fl avors are equally enticing. And the quiet, calm atmosphere provides for a relaxing experience.

On a Monday night, my fi ve

friends and I were immediately seated. The restaurant was well occupied but not packed. Our friendly and effi cient waiter quickly arrived to take orders. We decided to try two appetiz-ers, the Thai Spring Rolls and the Snowbird Dumplings.

The Thai Spring Rolls were neither fried nor crunchy. Fresh carrots, bean sprouts and egg were wrapped in thin rice paper rolls. The rolls were softer than I had expected and were large enough to be shared among several people. They were topped with a sweet brown sauce. The Snowbird Dumplings were the favorite appetizer, however, due to their wonderful presentation. Each dumpling was shaped like a small white bird complete with an orange beak and eyes. Not only was the presentation

impressive, but the dumplings were also delicious. The soft dough was fi lled with a unique-ly fl avored yet unquestionably tasty spiced chicken.

The entrées were also remarkably presented and fl avorful. The Cashew Shrimp dish included sautéed jumbo shrimp, red and green bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, roasted cashews, peanuts and almonds. The menu claims that it is served with a “spicy chili sauce.” I asked the waiter how spicy the sauce was and he said “medium.” However, I didn’t fi nd it to be spicy at all. I also didn’t detect chili fl avors. Nevertheless, the entrée was delectable. The food was well-prepared and served with a carrot carved into the shape of a fl ower.

If you go to a Thai restau-

rant, someone inevitably has to try the Pad Thai. Always a popular choice, this Pad Thai was pretty standard overall, but two aspects set it apart. For one, unlike other Pad Thais that I’ve sampled in St. Louis, this one was not greasy. Secondly, the sauce was particularly tasty, both sweet and savory. The thin stir-fried rice noodles were mixed with pickled rad-ish, bean sprouts and ground peanuts.

The Blue Elephant offers other noodle and rice dishes, including Pad See-U (fl at rice noodles with broccoli in a light soy sauce) and Healthy Choice Fried Rice (stir-fried brown rice with broccoli, egg and onion in a light soy sauce). Each of the noodle dishes can be topped with chicken, pork or beef. Jumbo shrimps can be added for an additional cost.

Last but certainly not least, we tried the Garlic Prawns and Sea Scallops. This dish stood out most for its stunning presentation. Large sautéed prawns and fresh jumbo sea scallops were served atop a bed of fresh steamed broccoli. Beside this sat a glorious, bright orange fi sh. Carved out of a car-rot, this fi sh was fully adorned with eyes, fi ns and scales, artistically rendered down to the most minute detail. The only complaint was that this entrée was a little on the cold side when it arrived.

After dining at the Blue Elephant, it comes as no surprise that the chefs have appeared on the Food Network. I wouldn’t put it past them to have competed on the Iron Chef as offi cial carrot carvers.

The Blue Elephant is open for dinner from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. most days (until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday). It’s open for lunch Tuesday to Fri-day from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

No matter how ami-cably a breakup goes, it can be ex-tremely awkward

to see your ex soon after. But what can be even more uncom-fortable is to see people who are close friends with your ex, especially if you’re also friends with them. You may wonder what your ex has been saying about you behind your back, and what these friends are thinking about the breakup.

Running into friends of your ex is not usually that diffi cult if you were dating someone who wasn’t a part of your circle of friends on cam-pus. One of the advantages of dating someone off-campus or outside of your circle is that if the relationship does not work out in the fi rst few months, you can break up without having to worry about divvying up your groups of friends. You also won’t need to worry about the awkwardness of seeing each other with that group of friends. Of course, if you date for a long time, you are going to have acquired some mutual friends no matter how far out-side of your circle your ex was when you started dating.

One important thing is to avoid making a point of asking what your ex is saying about you. It’s extremely tempting, especially if you have friends to whom you are both still very close after the breakup. If you keep asking what your ex is saying about you, it will seem like you’re playing your friends as your spy.

You don’t want to do that because it will put them in a very uncomfortable position. Either they will feel obligated to tell you things that your ex may have told them in confi -dence, or they will feel strange around you because they are afraid of what you are going to push them to disclose about their friendship. It is better to leave things be. Your relation-ship with these mutual friends

will be smoother, and your friends will appreciate your maturity in not trying to trap them in the middle. Trust that if your ex is saying or doing anything patently disrespect-ful to you that your friends will be loyal enough to tell you, and to judge that behavior for themselves.

Another important thing to keep in mind is not to get mad at your mutual friends if they continue to hang out with your ex after the breakup. Even if you choose to keep some distance from your ex, you can’t expect your friends to do the same. Your friends didn’t break up with your ex—you did. Your mutual friends know about the breakup. They are probably sad that it happened, especially if it was amicable. However, they are hoping that the breakup will affect their friendships with you and your ex as little as possible.

Let your friends maintain their autonomy over their so-cial life. Demanding that they pick a side after the breakup is the fastest way to lose all of your mutual friends. Just as they should have no fi nal say as to whom you choose to spend your time with, you should get no fi nal say on whom they choose to stay friends with. This goes back to trust. Trust that your friends will not be turned against you because they still want to spend some time with your ex. Remember that all of your ex’s good qualities as a friend have not been erased by the mere fact that you two are not dat-ing anymore.

If you keep these things in mind, you’ll have a smoother transition out of any relation-ship in which you and your ex share friends in common. Although a breakup is a deci-sion made by the two people in the relationship, it affects other people as well. As the decision-makers, the burden is on the people who were in the relationship to make the situa-tion as comfortable as possible for mutual friends.

§

The Blue Elephant7816 Forsyth Blvd. Clayton MO 63105314-862-0500Price Range: $10-20

OutRating:

★★★★✬

Stepping Stepping BY NICOLLE NEULISTSCENE REPORTER

Maintaining mutual friends after a

breakup

BY KATE GALLAGHER SCENE SPECIAL FEATURES EDITOR

The Garlic Prawns and Sea Scallops dish makes for a delicious, and beautiful, entree. KATE GALLAGHER | STUDENT LIFE

My name is Richard Ock-ers and I have been car-cra-zy since I was nine years old. Recently, I started masquer-ading as Wash. U.’s self-pro-claimed premier automotive journalist (disregard the fact that no one else was compet-ing for the title). Through the Scene section of Student Life, I will now be covering an automotive beat with reviews, commentary, Q&A and quick fi xes to common car problems. For today’s ar-ticle, I went to the Lou Fusz Ford dealership to test drive a new Mustang GT.

“Highest Ranked Mid-

size Sporty Car in Initial Qual-

ity in 2007” – J.D. Power and Associates

Base Price (MSRP): $27,260

Engine: 4.6L SOHC 3-valve V-8

Power: 300 @ 5750 rpm

Torque: 320 @ 4500 rpmFuel Econ: 15 mpg city / 22 hwy

BY RICHARD OCKERS SCENE REPORTER

Not your average ponyThe 2008 Mustang GT

Welcome to the fi rst car review ever written for

Student Life. Mustang GT Deluxe

Stats: